Christian Writers and Depression

I think depression is most often caused by chemicals within your body and has nothing to do with your state of life, mind, or spirit. Your body just feels depressed. Nobody should feel guilty or be made to feel like a failure in ANY way because they suffer from depression.

Also, I think there's also a time and season for every emotion (if I may be ecclesiastical). Jesus himself was "a man of sorrows and aquainted with grief", according to Isaiah. Paul was often burdened and melancholy. It doesn't mean you don't have hope - it's more about not feeling happy right now.

Sadness is a big part of life and an integral part of joy. The Scriptures deal much more with the concept of "Joy" than of "Happiness". "Joy" encompasses everything on our journey - the good and the bad. "Joy" is being one with Christ, experiencing his sufferings and participating in his glory and goodness.

That's my 2 cents, anyway.

Inspiewriter said:

Very interesting reply!

May I quote you?

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Certainly! Just make sure you spell my name right. It's "I", "I", "I". I hate it when I get quoted as "MeMeMe".

Anyone who thinks Christians shouldn't be sad should take a good long look at the book of Job. Also, we see Jesus mourning over his people (Oh Jerusalem) and for the lost.

I don't suffer from clinical depression in any sense of the word, but I'm not one of those naturally "happy" people. I go through periodic bouts of feeling like everything sucks. Honestly, I don't get this "happy Christianity" thing. The world is in sin. The world is a hopeless place. But we have HOPE IN CHRIST. That means that no matter how dark things get, we can always cling to the hope that our salvation comes in heaven, not in this world. I don't think Paul thought getting thrown in prison or beaten half to death was much fun, and he probably wasn't terribly thrilled about it either. He even cried out for God to take away his bodily "affliction" (whatever it was).

I think I realized how fundamentally Christianity is about PAIN and SUFFERING after I spent a year in China. It was rough on me emotionally, but the worst thing was that I spent Sundays in a local orphanage that didn't get any outside aid. I knew that I would never look at the world the same way when I found myself praying to God that one of the babies would just die. So that it would stop screaming in agony. I beat my head against the wall over and over in my attempts to get someone, anyone, to help. I called, emailed, begged, pleaded with every organization I could find, but it was always just too "inconvenient" for everyone. I finally found one organization that would ship clothing and toys if I raised the money, which I did. But that only helped a little. I had to accept the fact that sometimes, there's only so much you can do.

It's been three years and I still experience bitterness, frustration, and depression over this. I live in a happy, prosperous place, but I realize that everything I own and everything in my life is fleeting. There's no justice in this world as long as things like that can happen. I don't regret what I did because it opened my eyes to the way the world really is. Sometimes I feel like everyone else is blind. Sometimes I find myself praying, "God, when this is all over, you had better have a damn good explanation."

How do I get over it? I don't. It's reality. What I do is learn to trust in God. I don't know everything, and I'm not big enough that I will ever understand the whys of the world. But as God told Job, was he there when the world began? Was I? No. I turn to the bible and I take comfort in the fact that others have asked the same hard questions. I also take comfort in verses that promise that the angels of little children are always seeing God face to face, and that if a man hurts a little child, it is better that he has a millstone tied around his neck and is thrown into the sea. To me, that's a promise of justice. And I KNOW God keeps his promises.

I also ACT. I can't just walk away from that and go back to my everyday life without doing anything. So we sponsor a child in a third-world country and we contribute financially to other efforts. When we have an opportunity to help in our own community, we do that as well. Then when I get frustrated and depressed I can think, "Maybe I can't save the world, but I've done what I can. And I know the person who CAN save the world-- and already has."

Depression should not be confused with grief or sadness. Yes, those can cause depression, but it's not considered clinical depression because it is situational: there is a known cause for the person's unhappiness.

Clinical depression is causeless; there's nothing in the person's life that would reasonably cause the unhappiness. The theory is that it's a chemical imbalance in the part of the brain responsible for emotions. It does happen to Christians.

If you're serious about the article, I can put you in touch with a Christian who has suffered from depression for many years. He's nearly 65 now, but had to retire early because he was no longer able to work. He's a wonderful person--everyone loves him. He's a great listener. He'll help anyone however he can. But he can't feel happy. The best he can hope for at times is a day without weeping. Every morning, it's fifty-fifty.

He's on vacation, away from the computer right now, but if you're serious, I'll give him your contact information and ask whether he'll mind if you write with some questions. I'm sure he'd help, if he can.

Lemme know.

I will take it futher. You can accept or disagree - up to you. Take what is useful to you.

There are 2 types of depression.
1) Clinical Depression where you hardly sleep. (doctors have shown this!)
2) Manic depression where you want to sleep to escape.

Depression can affect ANY one and Christians aren't imumne to it. I would say they may possible have more battles coz they know in their heads that they "Should have the Joy of the Lord". Just coz you know and beileve something doesn't mean you walk in it.

Depression can be caused by a whole host of stuff. From a bad situation to losing someone.

Depression can also be generational and each generation is sucked into the bog of depression. They are powerless to resist it until they realize it is genereational and that Jesus can set them free. In the bog of depression usually means that SOMEONE else has to pull you out.

Depression can be caused by evil spirits. (I have and do a lot of councelling people and this is an area i do run into!)

Depression caused by chemicals in our body? I can go with that but my thinking is that there is a trigger that sets off those chemicals. So in one sense it is not the chemicals per se but a reaction of a stimulous!

Depression can range from a few hours to years.

Depression will suck your energy away. You will feel lifeless and loose all motivation to do anything about it or anything else for that matter.

Depression will often make you want to hide away or hide your feelings.

Depression will for many lead to thoughts of suicide coz they can't cope with life.

Sufferers of depression will also be prone to lies in their head. Such as "You are worthless. You are no good. Why bother trying it will only fail again". Etc

Depressed people often have a hard time accepting that they can change. Tied up with the comments above! You have to deal with the mindset then go for the depression.

Hope this is useful to you.

Kevvers

Inspiewriter said:

Hi gang,

Any thoughts on that? As Christians, have you ever been told you shouldn't feel sad because we have such great hope?

And if you have been depressed, how has it affected your writing, your prayer life?

How did you overcome it?

Please share anything you feel comfortable with (and let me know if you'd rather your name not be used in the column)

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You can use my name and i think this is true for a lot more writers if they are willing to admit it.

Your writing will be affected coz you will feel apathic and just won't want to do anything. You will think that your writing sucks and no one will want to read it. It will seem like such a mammoth task for you to write.

How does it affect your prayer life. Basically it shuts it down. When a person is depressed the last thing they want to do is pray and usually they don't. You stop praying and start to slide down a slippery pole of depression the guilt followed by more depression. And so it goes downwards.

How do you overcome depression? And "Overcome" is the optimum word here. It is a battle. You really have to push through the depression, your feelings, your lack of motivation and at time with gritted teeth keep pushing through till you break through the dark dismal clouds.

Learn to be thankful to God. At first force yourself to thank God outloud for at least 10 things everyday.

Read the uplifting psalms outloud (Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God!) and when you need to "Encourage your soul". There may be time when there is no one else to encourage you.

Force your self to pray and FOCUS TOTALLY ON JESUS CHRIST NOT YOUR PROBLEM OR DEPRESSION.

Go and find someone MORE depressed that you and pray for them, encourage them and help them. This is hard to do but well worth it. God often sorts you out as you minister to another person.

Get rid of the fairy tale notion that being a Christian isn't all wonderful and a bed of roses. There will be pains, troubles BUT DON'T LOSE HEART BECAUSE JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD.

These are just a few ways to OVERCOME DEPRESSION.

Kevvers.

This is a great thread. I've been dealing with depression lately, but it's not clinical, it's "situational." A series of things happened a few months ago that put my life in a tailspin. I was heading in one direction, toward everything I ever dreamed about and prayed for, and in about a week's time it was all taken away. "Just like that."

So I'm dealing with grief/depression, trying to start over, trying to get excited about having a new life that is going to be vastly different than I had planned.

For Christians, depression isn't always something that can be controlled or "snapped out of." It takes time, prayer, time, time, and more time.

As for my writing... When I'm down, I feel less motivation to write. But I also find that I write better (in some ways). And I can use the emotions I'm experiencing now to put into characters that I write about, to make them more believable and real. Everything we experience can be put into writing, can be used to help others, can be used to make a difference...

Also, as a Christian, I try to be thankful for what God *has* given me, like loving parents, intelligence, health, etc. And like another poster wrote above me, Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. So God Himself wasn't spared pain. I guess it's arrogant/ludicrous to think that I would be!

Hope this helps.

Forgot one point.

When Depressed put on some good "I'm having a knees up" praise & worship songs. Also if you can get into worshipping God too that will lift you up.

Kevvers

If I'm understanding you correctly you're not speaking of clinical despression that requires medication but rather situational depression, that kind of depression that makes us feel sad and dejected, discouraged, low in spirits. Right? Yes, I've been depressed and yes, depression affects my writng and prayer life. I become listless and do a lot of moaning to God. Once I'm done feeling sorry for myself, I get into the Word. David is probably the best Biblical example of a man who suffered from bouts of depression. His despondency is clear when you read Psalm 22:14&15. The KJV is so eloquent. It reads - "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels:" "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me unto the dust of death." Now that's despair. Of interest is the fact that David's feelings of depression, despondency, despair, preface the verses that prophesy of the crucifixion of Christ.
I don't think there's any doubt that God's people suffer from depression just like anyone else. The pressures of life can crush any one of us. The difference is that we have a divine helper in these situations. We have someone to turn to, to draw strength from, to pour out our complaint to whom we know loves and cares for us or He wouldn't have gone to Calvary for us.
I love David's response to his depression. His confidence is in God. "For he hath not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard." "My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation:"
The very next chapter, Psalm 23, shows David's full confidence in the Lord and his expectation of comfort. I love these chapters and when I'm feeling low and sad I read them. I also read Isaiah 53 which reminds me of the lengths to which Christ went for my salvation. What are my problems compared to His suffering? Then I read Philippians 4:6&7. It reminds me to lay everything at the feet of God and promises peace for my mind and heart if I do so. I cannot overcome depression on my own but I have a God who will come alongside of me and help me if I turn to Him.

Like i said just in case you missed it in all the writing

you can quote me.

Kevvers

By the way I started a thread in Rejection & Dejection called
"Strange isn't it".

It is about why we put ourselves into the mouths of rejection - dejection (which will lead to depression). If you haven't read it yet it might help with the other side of the Q. WHY do writers willing put themselves in a situation where there is a high probability of being rejected. Let me know if it is useful to you.

Kevvers

KCpotatohead said:

There are 2 types of depression.
1) Clinical Depression where you hardly sleep. (doctors have shown this!)
2) Manic depression where you want to sleep to escape.

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this is, at best, simplistic, and at worst misleading.

Inspiewriter said:

Hi gang,

I posted a thread in the Roundtable section to gather info for an article I'm doing on writers and depression.

I am posting it here also, because my column is in a Christian writing e-zine and on other boards I've seen discussion debating whether Christians should ever get depressed.

Any thoughts on that? As Christians, have you ever been told you shouldn't feel sad because we have such great hope?

And if you have been depressed, how has it affected your writing, your prayer life?

How did you overcome it?

Please share anything you feel comfortable with (and let me know if you'd rather your name not be used in the column)

Click to expand...

Hi Robin, just noticed this thread today. Your article sounds very interesting--I hope that you can encourage those Christians who do battle with depression and dismantle a few misconceptions while you're at it.

I had a major clinical depression 8 years ago. Even if my pastor had erroneously told me that 'Christians don't get depressed" I wouldn't have pulled out without the help of Christian counseling and meds to correct the chemical imbalance. (By the way, there are many Christian counselors who specialize in depression, so being a Christian doesn't make you immune from this disorder.) Current research suppports the position that clinical depression is most often caused by an imbalance of three or so neurochemicals in the brain--the imbalance often being caused by some major life stress or stressors. This is not just a 'feeling the blues' sort of thing; it's a lot more severe.

As to how it affected my prayer life/writing life--in my life it was a godsend. The experience led me to read my Bible for the first time cover to cover, which dramatically altered my spiritual outlook and walk. I also began journaling a lot, and started my part-time writing career as a direct result of going through this (I wrote a book for women dealing with depression, which got me into the whole writing-for-publication thing). It was a tough thing to go through, but the ways in which it 'grew' me made it worth the experience.

BTW, Robin, if you're wanting to describe symptoms of clinical depression, I can let you know a few key ones (at least in my case). Some of the earliest ones are early morning wakefulness (and not being able to get back to sleep), and lack of appetite. I woke up every morning around 4 or 4:30 AM for about a month before I got diagnosed. (I got diagnosed after I went a week without eating. It's funny--even at that point I didn't 'feel' depressed; I thought I was handling things very well, except I couldn't understand why I couldn't eat.) The feelings of withdrawal and extreme despair set in a bit further into the illness. And all these symptoms lasted the course of the illness which, in my case, was about 1-1/2 to 2 years.

Pat~ said:

BTW, Robin, if you're wanting to describe symptoms of clinical depression, I can let you know a few key ones (at least in my case). Some of the earliest ones are early morning wakefulness (and not being able to get back to sleep), and lack of appetite. I woke up every morning around 4 or 4:30 AM for about a month before I got diagnosed. (I got diagnosed after I went a week without eating. It's funny--even at that point I didn't 'feel' depressed; I thought I was handling things very well, except I couldn't understand why I couldn't eat.) The feelings of withdrawal and extreme despair set in a bit further into the illness. And all these symptoms lasted the course of the illness which, in my case, was about 1-1/2 to 2 years.

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Thanks, Pat, for the 2 symptoms.

Thanks, also, Inspie, for bringing this topic to light. I've been in a prayer group or two and the subject of someone having depression has always come up. The answer was (and I'd always disagree) that "It's too bad that so-and-so doesn't take joy in knowing the Lord" or something like that. A friend of mine even insists that a person "can't be saved" if they're depressed because "it's impossible to be depressed if you have the Holy Spirit and you can't be saved without the Holy Spirit". He knows I vehemently disagree.

It's just sad that some of our brothers and sisters silently suffer from this disease as they are afraid to say anything about it for fear of being branded a lesser-Christian.

No doubt, the advice of prayer, etc, is good. However, depression is a medical condition no different than cancer or a broken bone. It requires professional treatment.

Recently I had surgery and the recuperation required me to stay reclined for almost a week. I believe after 4 or 5 days of dormancy (and surfing the web on my laptop for agents to query), I not only became depressed (not "sad", but the opposite of "stimulated"), but I grew to like it. I liked laying on the couch, not have to go to work, not having to share in the domestic responsibilities. It wasn't until I HAD to go to work on Day 7 did I get out of this depressed state. That was a month ago, but a part of me (the part of me that liked a world with no responsibilities and expectations) still misses that week on the couch.